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I'm a writer, living in Bristol in the UK. I've had a handful of short stories published but I'm still working on that Holy Grail for fiction writers- securing a literary agent. So, if you're an agent or have an Auntie, Uncle, second cousin, best friend who is one...

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Lessons in novel writing: panning for gold in the rubble of rejection

You take months (in my case, years) working alone on a project then there comes a point – if you want your baby to develop, to grow and not remain swaddled to your over-protective breast forever – when you must push what you’ve made into the world and watch from a safe distance to see if it will fall on its face or walk, perhaps even run.

But what if it manages to both face plant and saunter cockily round the block on the same day?

A few weeks ago, I learned I’d come second in a Writing Magazine competition (more on that nearer publication day). My prize was either a modest amount of cash or a critique of 9,000 words.

Now, as I’m a writer with heaps of artistic integrity and a yearning to polish my craft until I can see my squadgy face in it, I opted for a critique of my Urban Fantasy novel opening.

On Tuesday the critique popped up in my inbox and I avoided reading it for three days.

This was my Schrödinger’s cat moment. I left the email unopened for the same reason it takes me weeks to check the numbers on a lottery ticket – if I don’t look, the unread critique/lottery ticket has the potential to be at once a marvellous review of my talent/worth millions and a hideous rip in my self-esteem/a worthless scrap of paper heading for the recycling bin.

Better not to know, right?

Except of course, wrong. I had to know because otherwise what’s the point in any of it? I opened the document …

And read the most delightful feedback I’ve had in a long while. The opening was engaging, the reader said, the characters realistic and sympathetic. My descriptions were good. I create a sense of mystery and the only thing that she truly found disappointing was not being able to read more.

Now, I’m British. Pretty reserved generally.

I tell you, I was dancing round the kitchen in my slippers after reading that. I fist bumped the air and I’ve never fist bumped anything in my life before.

Filled with renewed self-confidence, I sent a (very polite) follow up email to an agent I sent my chapters to back in August and submitted to three new ones. This could be it. If a professional reader at the UK’s bestselling writing magazine thinks my story has promise, it could be the vehicle that sees me become a published novelist, right?

Towards the end of the afternoon, another email popped into my inbox. From the agent I’d sent my (very polite) follow up to.

After apologising for taking so long to get back to me, she took around a page to say:

That no publishers want Urban Fantasy just now.

That the perspective in the first scene was confusing.

That the premise was too well-trodden to grab her interest.

Basically, that she didn’t think the story was strong enough to sell.

At this point there was not another euphoric little dance around the kitchen. A professional had now told me my story was unoriginal, not good enough to warrant a read in full.

A black hole, a nobbly Hell especially for writers would surely now open up in the lino and swallow me whole. Tiny demons armed with nothing but sharpened quills, reading extracts from Fifty Shades of Grey would poke my eyeballs for all eternity, whispering, If E.L.James can get published, why can’t you?

Of course, this didn’t happen.

Because she also:

Said the mystery at the heart of my story was a strong one.

Said I wrote well.

Actually gave me a personal response, took time to read my submission carefully and gave me guidance on how to improve. And anyone who’s been down the submission route will know that getting any kind of personal response feels like a small win.

So, what have I taken from yesterday?

That writing is utterly subjective. That what one professional enjoys another will not.

That I need to be more adventurous with my story telling, not just thinking outside the box, but climbing out of the box – hell, I just need to burn the bloody box!

And that I can write. I really can.

And for now, that’s all the speck of gold I need to keep me panning for more.

***

NB For my dear, generous beta readers, Maureen, Chris,Jane, Karen, Sammi, Jane and Lauren, I’m not giving up on finding Caro and Neil a home just yet. And whatever the story’s merits, you’ve helped make it that way. Many thanks again, all of you.

81 thoughts on “Lessons in novel writing: panning for gold in the rubble of rejection”

I would hope you don’t dump them! Keep going after the agents though. To get a reply at all seems to be pretty good going. It’s a story I remember which I can’t say about much of what I’ve read lately. I did hear it said that urban fantasy was out years ago, so it’s probably going to have a big come-back soon.

Thank you, Jane. I’ve not submitted that much to agents, really – five or six rejections between two books so far – and this is my first personal reply. I feel honoured she took the time to do it, to consider the thing good enough to comment on. I’m delighted it stuck with you – can’t be a bad sign 🙂 And I’m never quite sure what fits into what category anyway. I’ve reclassified the novel Contemporary Fantasy for other agents, as it’s not really set in a gritty urban environment at all. Is it just a pure ghost story? I don’t know really. I’ll keep trying, don’t worry and thank you again for your keen eyes and good judgement.

It’s certainly worth persevering with agents. You’ll get a shot at the bigger publishers if you hook one. And five or six rejections for two books is nothing. I reckoned I’d had over a hundred (pubs and agents combined) before I decided to have one last go before chucking it in. I’m still no further advanced, but at least I know I’ve done all I can. Hoping this latest one will crack it, but I’m not holding my breath.

Kept meaning to ask how your relationship with your agent is going. Are they working hard for you? Also saw you’re on a new WIP – excited to hear more when the time comes. You’re fantastically productive, Jane. I hope this will be the one for you.

She’s sent the book out to all the big ones but I’ve had only praise of the writing, no sale. So far, that was the only one of mine she thought was a runner. If you’d like to read the one I’ve just finished you’re very welcome. It’s YA. I’m waiting for her to look at it.

Praise for the writing is no small deal, Jane. I know it’s frustrating not getting a sale – can’t imagine how frustrating – but it feels very close for you. I’d be honoured to read the new book. Always a a pleasure to read your work

I think the agent was surprised she wasn’t having to beat them off. But she was wrong. Praise is wonderful but if the bottom line is that not enough people will want to read it for us to want to spend a lot of dosh on it, I don’t feel I’m much further advanced. Maybe with this one. It’s an easier read.
I’d be truly grateful if you’d read it. You are a good writer and I value your judgement. I’ll send it over.

What I’m hoping it that I will one day write something that a good publisher will want, and that will shift the rest of them. A bit like getting rid of constipation.
Once you self-publish you’re condemning yourself to a lifetime of publicising and spending what seems to me like a lot of money on advertising, forever. Reviewers don’t want to do self-pubs either so you’re forever putting it on free kindle promotions, paying to advertise the fact that you’re giving it away, and hoping a few of those who download it will actually read it and one or two will leave a (good) review. Not for me.

This is all so well put, Jane. Others keep encouraging me to self pub, but I know the effort and money involved. Wouldn’t want to put anything out that’s no good, so I’d need someone to edit, proof, design a cover. The money mounts up and you then have to be great at marketing, which I’m clearly not. I think your idea is sound too. I’ve heard of that too and your back catalogue would be ideal for a publisher wishing to promote your work quickly. Fingers crossed for you

Self-pubbed writers seem to have a monthly budget for advertising. When you know that a Bookbub promotion for a giveaway (ie the book is free) can cost you $300 you need to have 1) a lot of cash lying around 2) a lot of confidence you’ll recoup your outlay and make some money in addition. I don’t have either so it’s an easy decision.

I don’t know, China Miéville seems to do well enough with his Urban Weird (or whatever he calls it these days) and YA shelves have enough steampunk amongst their romantic fantasy, bildungsromans and social realism titles to establish that whatever shade of urban fantasy one writes there will be readers to consume it.

But the positive noises within your agent’s critique sound pretty encouraging to me, Lynn; and, as one of those readers you kindly namecheck above, I have to say that Neil and, particularly, the stroppy Caro have wormed their idiosyncratic ways into my sympathies and that I would would love not only to see them in print but also to hear What Caro And Neil Did Next.

Maybe China’s cornered the market? Maybe the story just isn’t for that agent? There’s certainly still a lot of fantasy out there, thankfully, or I’d never get published! Whatever, I know how highly those in the industry rate a personal reply – so many are form rejections or no reply at all, understandable with the 100s of subs agents get every year. And I’m so glad the characters stayed with you. I’m – very slowly – developing a new novel idea, with new characters wriggling into my heart, but I have such a soft spot for Neil, Caro and Sim, I don’t want to let them languish on a hard drive forever. We’ll see – more submissions (and no doubt rejections!) await. And thank you again for being such an early reader on TRD. I know how lucky I’ve been to have such generous people give up their time for me.

What a story Lynn, complete with its twists and turns and arc of its own…thanks for sharing. I’m like you: could not read or open that email. Maybe more than half of this writing thing is having the heart and nerve for it, right? You’re British, you do.

Aw, thanks Bill! You have to develop a thick skin, to be sure, and that comes with time. I’m not the least upset by the agent rejection – alright, it would have been better if it was a yes, but to get a personal reply is fantastic to me. You have to have a certain amount of self belief and that’s come with time, with me winning the odd thing, getting short stories and serials published. And you have to just love doing it, that’s the main thing. It’s me, it’s what I do. I’m sure you feel the same about your own writing – I know you do.
Anyhow, what are your birthday plans? Hope you’ve done/are doing something nice with the family. Thank you for the kind comment

Hey lady! Good passage here. Yes, it’s me and what I do as you say. There you are.
Thanks for asking on the birthday plans. Dawn and I booked a room in downtown Seattle at an older boutique type place above a nice restaurant. I love staying at a place with a good restaurant, something comforting about that (especially when it’s really cold out). With any luck we’ll get out to a bar for a drink after, too. Though I’m a bit worn out from doing the same with a couple friends last night. Be well.

Hi Maureen, lovely to see you here. Was going to email you with the news/not news. Thank you so much for the encouragement. I have tweaked again (with the suggestions from the Writing Mag reader) and sent out to three more agents. A personal reply is a first for me and fantastically encouraging. And I’m working (slowly) on a new novel too, trying to put all the advice I’ve been given together into another setting. I still have faith something will happen at some point! Hope your own novel writing is going well – whenever you’d be willing to share, you know I’m a huge fan of your work. And thank you – a thousand times – for all your feedback on TRD. If it ever gets published, you’ll have to flick to the acknowledgements page, for you know you’ll be there.

I’m excited for you. It’s great to get positive feedback, even if the general answer is a negative.
I had heard that Urban is currently out of favour… though it could reverse at any time, and that the general advice is to slip it in beneath the radar by rebranding it. It isn’t Urban; it’s… whatever else it will fit into. But not Dystopian cos that’s out too. So is the Chosen One.
Good luck on finding an acceptable genre. You’ve got a head start. You’ve been told it’s a strong plot etc.

Thank you, Crispina. Yes, that’s exactly what I’ve done for most of the other subs – I’ve just called it Contemporary Fantasy, which it is. Weird how so much relies on what category you can put something in. Humans really aren’t happy unless we can name something. Thanks for the encouragement

Congratulations on your well-deserved successes, Lynn. Forget the buts; an agent sent you a personal response because she recognises that you are a talented writer, but your subject matter is not currently in fashion… a bit like my friends who formed a a local punk band named Optimax. Back in the late ’70s they went to London in the hope of making it big. Their unusual talent grabbed the interest of a certain very successful musician who was considering switching production. But he didn’t switch, punk was on its way out and they – presumably – were unable to change their style, so…

The difference is that your genre will sell if it is good enough, and, surely, your book fits the bill. Also, you’re eminently capable of switching genres. your writing is more than art – it’sArt.

Aw, thank you Jane. It’s a funny thing, this pigeon-holing of books. Some publishers seem to demand you know where your book fits, others recommend spinning a couple of geners together to create something new, but some don’t like that because they won’t know where to place it on the book shop shelves. Tricky. Thank you for your support, as ever. I can’t claim to be an artist – not clever or sophisticated enough – but I do like a good yarn and I hope that’s enough. Thank you again x

You’ve written your account of rejection beautifully. The sense of dismay comes across, mingled with the golden gleam given by positive feedback. Personally, I’m getting tired of polite rejections (nudging 50 over two novels – and counting). Every submission requires something slightly different, which takes a couple of hours to put together, check and re-check, and half the time you get – silence. I’d so much prefer to be writing (sigh).
But from my beta readers, I’m sure I’ve got a winner. If I don’t succeed in snagging an agent, I shall self-publish!
Keep pushing your work, Lynn. You’re a super writer, and I’m sure there’s a market for it.

I do know what you mean about it being tiring Penny. It’s not just a case of polishing a submission package, you have to research the agents, stalk them on Twitter, read interviews, find out what they like and don’t like, tweak the package to the agency’s requirements … As you say, hours on each one. It is tiring. I’m so glad you’ve had such positive feedback from your readers and I hope you can snag that agent this time round – your writing deserves it. Thank you for the encouragement. I’ll keep going a while longer 🙂

It’s great you got a personal response. And I don’t buy that there’s no market for Urban Fantasy. It might be a bit oversaturated, but that can also be a strength. There are plenty of publishers and sellers who want a sure thing rather than something risky. That’s what killed me on my first book. Got a personal response from the agent who sold The Martian, basically telling me the writing was good but the concept/structure was too unconventional to sell. The exact opposite of what you were just told. I think logic dictates that you’ll be better off with something more like what is selling now. Don’t worry!

Thank you so much for the encouragement. You’re right, it’s a weird thing to be told Urban Fantasy is out of fashion when there’s a fair bit of it around. It’s interesting to hear about your own experience with agents. Did you get your ‘unconventional’ book placed with a publisher in the end or did you self-publish. You seem to be very prolific and have no shortage of ideas

My current indie publisher, Fiction Vortex, picked it up. It just happened to be the sort of new thing they were trying to do. The book is called “In the Valley of Magic” and has been out for a bit now. I’m sure I would have been more successful with an agent, but you can’t win them all. And I’m in a somewhat comfortable position now, managing one of the publisher’s fantasy shared universes, but able to work at my own pace (because, you know, real work and life and all that).

That sounds fabulous. There’s something to be said for having so much control over your work and just getting things out there and to a high standard, as your publications seem to be. Of course, we’d all like untold wealth to accompany our writing life, but …

I do sympathise. People have mentioned self publishing to me, to get some of my books out there. But I know how useless I’d be at marketing and that’s so important when you self pub – marketing plans, publicity, blog tours and then you seem to have to have twenty books out to make a splash and keep people interested in your brand. Hard work. Well done for getting your work out there, though – it’s brilliant

If I were you, I would research more agents and find one that likes your genre. Because writing is subjective. Keep sending it out until you find an agent who sees it more like the reader. And if that doesn’t work, self publish.

Thanks Cynthia. Yes, I’ve done exactly as you say – stalked agents on twitter, found their likes and dislikes, read interviews, compiled a list of agents and the ones at the top who show a strong interest in fantasy and love authors and books I love or even represent authors I like too. I’ve sent out some more submissions, so we’ll see how I go. Thank you very much for the encouragement.

For only having a few submissions so far, this is a very positive response! I’m impressed! As you say, getting a personalized critique from an agent is unusual, and a sign that you are far above most of what they’re receiving, even if this particular piece isn’t quite to their preferences.

Most authors I know had to try dozens of agents (or more!) before they found one that was a good fit. Keep trying!

And yes, you CAN write — beautifully! I am always impressed by your micro-fiction and flash, and look forward to reading your longer-form works.

Aw, thank you so much, Joy. That’s such a kind and encouraging comment and so lovely to read. I am heartened by the agent’s response, even if it is a rejection – for someone to take the time to give some advice is a rare thing in publishing. I take encouragement from it. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ll get an agent through this book but I feel confident enough to keep trying. Thank you for the kind comment on my writing too – it means a great deal

You really are one of the best writers I know — at least in the short forms that I’ve seen so far. I do a lot of critiquing, so I’ve seen a ton of writers’ unpublished works, and I would definitely put your chances at getting an agent on the higher end of that scale. But you have to keep trying ad nauseum to find the right person, which isn’t at all the fun part, is it? Hang in there, and best of luck!

Take heart, Lynn. Five rejections is nothing (trust me!) and getting an encouraging personal response on one of them is excellent. Rebranding your story as a contemporary fantasy is smart. But don’t write for the market. Write what you’re passionate about. Says the woman finishing unpublished novel #5…. 😉

You’re right, you have to write what you love. I read a post online the other day, a writer advocating writing for the market. I can do a level of that in short stories – the magazine I write for publishes a very different genre from the one I naturally write. Although, saying that, my fiction is on the darker side of their output (I can’t write stories without any threat or danger, it seems!) and there is a part of me that’s very comfortable writing women’s fiction, just as long as it’s not too soppy :). But writing purely to fit the market? How do you sustain that over the length of a novel? Thanks for the encouragement, Karen. The support from fellow writers helps keep me going through the rejections 🙂

Way to go, Lynn. You’ve started the next phase of your journey. I have zero experience in this so all I can say is don’t quit sending it out there. It may take many more attempts to get it out there.
How frustrating that one has to assign a genre, putting a story within a definitive box. I suppose they need to, to a certain extent to attract a type of reader.

Thank you so much Dale. Yes, it is frustrating. Especially as I’d rather like to genre hop, too. But as you say, it’s all down to business and money – they need to market books and authors to a certain kind of readership and they want writers who keep delivering variations on the same theme time and time again, keeping the same audience. I will keep trying – another rejection the other day! – but we’ll see how long it takes before I’m too wounded to keep on. Always another project, though … 🙂

I would be bored to always find myself in the same genre. Must be why some use a nom de plume to give themselves more options. Or, maybe once you are well-established then you can have more leeway. But people are funny. They want the same old, same old…
It’s a question of time!

Rejections are really hard to deal with. For me personally, I just tell myself that I am doing this—writing this for myself. Write because you want to write and something eventually good will come your way. Believe in your writing—Believe in yourself.

Reblogged this on Happiness Between Tails by da-AL and commented:
Rejection: whether you’re a fellow novelIst — or you adore reading fiction as much as I do — or you too are human — at some point we’ve got to deal with disappointment and frustration.
Here, while I take time off to complete my upcoming novel, “Flamenco & the Sitting Cat,” Lynn Love opens her heart to us. This is how she keeps rejection from getting the better of her…

Well done for taking the plunge into self publishing, Rosaliene. Not the easy option some might think, not if you’re determined to make a good job of it. Hope that’s worked out for you and all’s going well and thank you for reading and commenting

I recently self-published my first book (called Chloe) in December of 2019. I was so excited, so eager to see it take off and sale. But…..sales have not been great and it’s been a very disappointing process sales wise…But way worth it! The thrill of finishing my first book and of publishing my first book still sits with me everyday regardless of the sales reports. I did it! And that’s what you should hold on to as well. Keep polishing your writing but don’t forget to be excited, keep dancing. You created a treasure that someone will find one day.

Huge congratulations on your publication success, Brianna! It’s something I’ve been very wary of, I admit. Not confident enough to try my hand at all the technical side – the formatting, etc. And don’t even get me started on marketing! I can’t imagine how proud you must feel, the sense of satisfaction. Do you have plans for more? I gather that having a raft of books can in itself help sales. Good luck with all your future writing and thank you so much for reading and for sharing your lovely story

Heartening to hear you didn’t find the prices too daunting-well done for sticking with it. It’s partly the promotion side that’s made me reluctant to self publish. I know all authors are expected to do some promotion, even those with traditional publishers, but the most successful self publishers are those with a marketing background who are prepared to spend half their time marketing not writing. Good luck with it all and I hope the book sales go from strength to strength

By the way maybe you should Self publish those novels that you couldn’t get a regular Publisher to publish…

I like your blog. I recently started submitting short stories and well one poem for writing contest. I just got notification that the one poem (that I’ve ever wrote except for when I was in school) was accepted in a semi final contest and that whether I win or not it will be published in National Poetry Anthology book…not sure how it works…yet. But its fun to create stories and the poem was just a try for me…so it was encouraging to see that someone liked it. I might try more down the road.And as much as I’d like to win the contest I think I enjoy the creation of the story more than anything….but someday if I win a few bucks…I might like that just as much 🙂

Well done on the poem. Sounds like a great opportunity, getting published too. Very exciting. Maybe I’ll look into self publishing one day, but I’d need to find some drive, energy and commitment from somewhere! Good luck with the contest

Good for you, Lynn, for completing 2 novels, for having the courage to submit them to agents, and for the willingness to share your experience with us, your mostly unknown readers. You wrote your heart out and there’s nothing better than that. Everything else will sound saccharine. I wish you well in the future and I do believe you have a writing future.

Thank you so much for the lovely comment, Sharon. It’s tough, this submission business but we develop a thick skin, well at least we try! I’ll keep trying and how for the best. And in the mean time I’ll just keep working on my craft, improving where I can. Thanks so much for the kind thoughts and encouragement and thanks so much for reading

Well done! Writing so often comes down to pure intrinsic motivation. I direct published my first novel last spring and quickly found that it was best to use any in store events as a carrot to keep working, because otherwise the events were a waste of a couple hours of precious time. Plus, it is best to keep the will to go on in one’s own hands…thanks!

Congratulations on your publication – that’s quite an achievement. Writing is a long, hard slog sometimes isn’t it? But your right, the motivation to go on has to come from yourself – if we didn’t love writing and didn’t have faith in our own abilities, we’d just sit and watch TV in our spare time instead – it would certainly be the easy option! Thanks for reading and for the encouraging comment. Good luck with your further adventures in writing